Since there weren’t any other putrid dead things to sniff today, Betty decided that the dead sparrow wasn’t something to ignore after all. Just like fine wine, it had aged a day and had a scent worth leisurely savoring with a dog’s nose.

Betty knows that the slowly decaying dead squirrel is off-limits, but no matter, she sniffed out a dead snake before I could do anything about it. However, she walked right over top of a dead sparrow without taking any interest in it. I guess no nose is perfect even if it is a basset hound nose. Or maybe Betty isn’t a dead bird dog.

I take Betty on a sniff twice daily (other dogs might consider this to be a walk). There are so many things to sniff, but, of course, Betty is most interested in sniffing those things I don’t want to go near. The latest disgusting thing she desires to sniff is a flattened dead squirrel covered in flies in the middle of a rather busy road. As soon as we get to within 100 feet of this poor dead animal, Betty lunges towards it (it isn’t even visible yet) and tries to drag me into the road. When I stop her, she whines. Poor Betty, her oppressor won’t let her revel in the scent of a puss-oozing maggot-ridden corpse.